Demon Brat
by POME
Summary: Naruto is shunned in Konoha for containing Kyuubi. Gaara is widely feared and avoided in Suna for containing Shukaku. Together, they find friendship and acceptance in each other. Pairings unknown, rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

"An' don't come back in 'ere again ya fuckin' demon brat!"

A large round vegetable followed by several rotten apples came hurtling in a blonde boy's direction as it hit the ground with a loud _thud_ sound where the said boy was standing just moments earlier. The pedestrians merely walking by looked on at the scene with their lips curled in contempt, not at the behavior of the owner of that fruit stand, but at the unfortunate blonde boy dodging those flying vegetables. They jeered loudly and cold laughs passed through their lips, which were twisted in hostile sneers that did their already unattractive faces no justice.

"_Looking at that vile thing gives me chills"_

"_Yeah, I hope it gets pegged to death"_

A particularly large orange the young boy couldn't dodge in time caught him on the side of his head and the juice splattered over his face.

"_Hahahha, serves that demon right!"_

The blonde boy sidestepped another rotten fruit as it came whirling towards him, unable to identify it as he was forced to run quickly to avoid another two coming from behind.

"_Damn, I missed that one!_ _That demon brat won't get so lucky this time!"_

The young blonde, who couldn't have been more than 11 or 12 years old, continued running away from the riled up crowd currently chasing him and throwing any object at him that they could get their hands on. He turned into a side street, cut across an alley he knew all too well when running in these situations, and hid behind some beat up old trash cans. He sat deathly still and listened until the sound of the angry crowd began to get dimmer and further away. Then he let out a breath he didn't realize he had been holding, stood up and stretched, and began to trudge home wearily.

The day so far had been long and hard on him, and his stomach viciously growled in discontent. He hadn't been able to buy anything no matter what shop he showed up in; all the owners seemed to hate him. The nicest one, the only one willing to accept his money, gave him a stale loaf of plain bread that had some suspicious furry white and green spots dotting the outside.

When he arrived home he pushed open the graffiti covered front door with the rusty old hinges, threw the stale loaf of bread on his dining table and ignored the precarious wobbling as it creaked under the weight of the stale loaf, and continued on to the small bathroom. He flipped the switch and waited as the lights flickered on and off undecidedly in the bathroom before finally staying on. Then he turned on the faucet labeled 'Cold' and washed the dripping orange juice off his face, flinching once on the contact with freezing water. He turned on the faucet labeled 'Hot' to compensate, but no matter how long he waited the water came out just as freezing, if not worse than the one labeled 'Cold'.

Naruto led a dreary life, but he was used to it. At his age he didn't understand why the villagers acted the way they did towards him, he couldn't remember ever doing anyone harm. Sure he got a kick out of playing childish pranks on people every once in a while, but his pranks didn't merit such hatred. Were all the people in this hidden village always so cruel? Well, at least not all of them. There was always Iruka-sensei, who had treated Naruto like the son he never had. If it wasn't for him, Naruto was sure he would have been forgotten and buried six feet under in some faraway obscure little town because surely, the villagers would have gotten to him by now and given him a slow, painful death at their first chance.

Naruto sighed. If only he lived in another hidden village, a place where none of the villagers were unjustly cruel to him, a haven where he would be accepted and loved like he was one of their own. And if he got the chance he would bring Iruka-sensei along as well. Then they could live together happily in a proper home with real food and warm beds, and most importantly they'd be just like a real family. It was too bad that no haven like that existed anywhere, not one that Naruto knew of at least. The only hidden village he ever knew and had the misfortune of being a part of was Konoha, the hidden leaf village.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

How's the story so far? ;o


	2. Chapter 2

Temari drew herself to her full height, which wasn't very impressive to say the least, and used her best bossy, big sister voice she could muster at age 12. "I told you not to touch my fan Kankuro! Don't make me hurt you!" She snatched a small palm sized red and pink fan out of Kankuro's hands and proceeded to whack him on the head with it.

"Ouch! Why would I want your stupid fan anyway? It's such a girly red!"

The siblings tumbled around on the floor trying their best to punch the other in the face. "Red is not a girly color!"

A lamp crashed onto the floor as they rolled around wrestling, and in their wake the Kazekage's papers flew onto the ground in a white flurry.

"It is too!" He rolled over and threw her off him. "And red is a stupid color anyway!"

Their thumps and occasional jibes were heard over the ruckus of broken furniture as they fought, but through all the noise they both heard steady footsteps heading their way. The door slid open and both siblings stopped their rolling and turned their heads towards the intruder. Temari's fist was posed 3 inches above Kankuro's face while his leg was bent and ready to knee her in the stomach. A pair of icy green eyes rimmed with black in a telltale sign of sleep deprivation observed the situation and narrowed slightly, which didn't go unnoticed by the two on the floor. "Gaara…" both siblings gulped simultaneously and got off each other in a haste to stand up.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gaara stirred from his meditative stance. His sensitive ears heard an earthquake going on down the hallway, so naturally he got up and went towards it to find the source of all the noise. As he walked closer he caught bits of muffled yelling in between all the noise.

"…_not a girly color!" _Loud crash. _"Red is a stupid… anyway!" _More thumping.

His ears led him to the front of the Kazekage's study. He stopped, slid the door open and was greeted by the sight of his own flesh and blood rolling around punching the lights out of each other on the floor of their father's study. His eyes narrowed as he took in the damage done by his incompetent siblings and he smirked inwardly when they paused in mid-fight and scrambled to get up in his presence. He was going to make them pay for insulting his hair color.

Before he could say anything, he felt a violent, all-too familiar tug in his mind.

_**..Kill those pathetic humans..**_

_No.._

…_**show no mercy.. rip their throats out…**_

_NO. _

_**make them BLEED…**_

_GO AWAY!_

Gaara fought to maintain consciousness, but with one final tug at his mind the demon took over and his world turned black.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The redhead merely glared daggers at the other two, who both felt shivers run up their spines at his menacing gaze.

_Was it possible for their 11 year old brother to emit this insane killer intent?_

Temari's hairs were standing on end and she stood impossibly still besides Kankuro, hoping Gaara would spare their lives. Then a thought struck her.

_Oh gods, he must have heard Kankuro shouting and insulting his hair color when we were fighting!_

Now she knew they were both done for.

_If only Kankuro kept his stupid, big mouth _shut_. _

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Kankuro couldn't hold his gaze on his younger brother's intimidating face anymore. He instead looked at his toes to avoid the intense fury of Gaara's glare and next to him he felt Temari stiffen warily. _Is it just me or does Gaara's glare seem especially contemptuous today? _For the life of him Kankuro couldn't figure it out. _Maybe I'll ask Temari about it later, if Gaara doesn't kill us today. _

A small sliver of sand came out of Gaara's gourd and curled around both their throats silently, but it was just as deadly and effective as a kunai. Kankuro felt his heartbeat speed up and his eyes darted around nervously.

_Shit, this is it! He's really going to kill us!_

Beside him Temari took a breath and hesitantly tried coaxing Gaara out of it.

"G-gaara, we're sorry if we disturbed you, we- we didn't mean it... and, your hair looks very nice today."

She bowed down slightly and held her breath, hoping her words were effective.

Kankuro's brows knit together in agitation and confusion.

_His hair looks nice today?? What the hell is she thinking? Gaara's not some vain little girl who'll feel better from a stupid compliment about his red hair… which I _still_ think is a stupid color. _

He took a breath and waited for the worse, but was surprised when he felt the sand around his throat loosen and leave altogether. He gathered the courage to look up and watched as the last of the sand particles slid back into the gourd, his eyes wide in surprise and with the realization that he would live to see tomorrow. Gaara graced them with one last glare, turned swiftly, and walked out the way he came in. The door slid shut behind him as his footsteps disappeared down the hallway.

Both siblings let out a breath they hadn't realized they'd been holding. The oppressive atmosphere seemed to have left when their brother walked out, and they both took a breath of clearer air.

"What the hell just happened?" Kankuro demanded.

Temari turned to him and he noticed that her eyes were still slightly wide and incredulous.

"You saw what happened, I told him his hair looked nice. Now clean up this room."

_Ah, the bossy attitude's back already. _

"But all you did was compliment his _hair. _His HAIR Temari. And he spared our lives!"

"You still haven't thanked me for that. And keep your voice down before he hears us again!" she hissed. Temari maneuvered her way around the broken lamp on the floor and began picking up their father's papers that were strewn over the room haphazardly. "Besides, it's your fault he got mad at us. You just couldn't keep your mouth shut!" she huffed angrily.

"Me? You were just as loud as I was!"

"Yeah, but you're the one who insulted his hair, genius." she retorted flatly and began to pick up broken pieces of the lamp.

"I didn't say anything about his hair! All I did was say red was a …stupid…color…"

Kankuro slowed his words as realization dawned on him. He just insulted his deadly little brother's hair color. Behind his back. And quite loudly too. _Damn._

"Genius," she repeated and rolled her eyes. Sometimes she just had to wonder, did smart, sane, non-bloodthirsty males even exist?

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gaara padded down the hallway softly, allowing relief and exhaustion to wash over his small body. He had almost completely lost it back there. Almost lost control of the demon inside him. Control of _Shukaku._ If it wasn't for his sister's voice jerking him back to reality…

He was a second away from murdering his own brother and sister, the only two people he could sometimes put up with out of the whole damned village. He knew the demon in him would unexpectedly strike at any chance it got, especially when he was around people he cared for, however few they were. Gaara knew the demon sought to destroy him from the inside out by attempting to drive him insane. Heck, he hadn't been able to get a proper nights sleep since he was 3, and he knew those dark rims around his eyes weren't going to disappear anytime soon.

He shuddered involuntarily; he hated to admit it, but his lack of control over the demon scared him. That was the reason why he distanced himself from everyone, including his siblings. The more people he cared for, the more the demon would strike, and the more deaths it would bring upon Suna. Gaara couldn't stand the thought of killing people he cared about, that would surely drive him to the brink of insanity, so the only solution was to care only about himself. To only love himself, and no one else.

That night, restless and for obvious reasons unable to sleep, Gaara took a kunai and carved the kanji 'love' onto his forehead. It was a promise to himself that he wouldn't care about or fall in love with anyone anymore. He wasn't capable of loving another person. The only love a jinchuriki deserved was selfish love.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Comments, thoughts, reviews? ^^


	3. Chapter 3

"Naruto you baka! You know there's no point in trying to beat Sasuke-kun in a taijutsu spar! Obviously he'll just end up kicking your ass." A smug pink haired girl berated Naruto as Team 7, minus the Icha Icha addict, duly waited on the bridge for their habitually late sensei.

"Don't worry Sakura-chan!" He flashed her a foxy grin. "I'm just having a friendly spar with the teme to pass some time!"

Naruto took on a defensive stance and watched as his broody team mate got into position from across the bridge.

"Oy teme, are you ready to get your ass kicked?"

"Tch." The unspoken words '_bring it on'_ hung in the air as the two boys rushed across the bridge and began throwing kicks and punches at the other.

Sakura stood on the sidelines cheering loudly for her dark haired teammate as she watched. They were both evenly matched. Naruto managed to land a punch on the side of Sasuke's mouth, but the Uchiha recovered quicker than Naruto expected, saw an opening, and landed a kick on his stomach, effectively knocking the wind out of Naruto and sending him back a good 5 feet. Sasuke smirked at the breathless Naruto trying to get up while a small trickle of blood ran down slowly from the busted lip Naruto gave him.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you okay?"

The Uchiha ignored the pink haired girls concern and took on an offensive stance, getting ready to attack the moment Naruto got up.

"Yo," their lazy white haired sensei finally arrived and stood next to Sakura on the sidelines. "What do we have here?"

"You're late Kakashi-sensei! Sasuke-kun and Naruto were having a taijutsu spar and now Sasuke-kun's bleeding! Please stop them before he gets hurts even more!" The pink haired girl pleaded with her teacher as he half listened, more interested in the spar than her words. Kakashi refrained from rolling his eyes at her blatant adoration for the Uchiha and her why-would-I-give-a-shit attitude concerning her blonde teammate. It was time to put a stop to this nonsensical fighting.

"Alright feisty minions." Commence eye crinkle. The two boys stopped fighting and turned to face the white haired jounin.

"You can beat each other into bloody pulps later. Today, we are going to work on your chakra control."

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

After spending a good deal of their day attempting to walk sideways up trees with chakra, the younger members of Team 7 were worn out, agitated, and famished. They dispersed quickly and went their separate ways home. Naruto walked with slow deliberation, knowing that when he got home no one would be waiting for him anyway. Instead his feet took him towards the Ichiraku ramen stand. Naruto sat down, ordered 6 bowls of beef ramen, and silently contemplated while waiting for his dinner.

His 12th birthday was coming up soon and he had no one to share it with. He wished that for once he could throw a little party and invite people over to celebrate, and maybe, if he dared, wish for a nice small cake to go with it all. He had seen people throw extravagant parties for their children, complete with family, balloons, friends and a giant ice cream cake. How he envied those kids. His birthday was in 4 days, to be exact, and Iruka-sensei (he still insisted on calling him sensei even after graduating from the academy) was away on a mission that was supposedly going to take a week, but gods knew how long he'd really be gone. He could only hope that his former teacher came out of that mission alive and well.

_So, 4 days and no one to share it with. _Naruto felt a pang of self pity and dread as that day neared. He always hated it when his birthday came around, and his depression showed because he would get all withdrawn around this time of year. His team noticed this sudden change in attitude, but they never brought the subject up, never wished him a happy birthday, and never asked if he was okay either.

_Pft, that just shows how much they really care about me._

Naruto was being bitter and he knew it, but he just couldn't bring himself to care enough to hide his depressive attitude. Usually a wide foxy grin and loud talking was enough of a façade for everybody. They all fell for it and believed that Naruto was a naturally happy person, but he wasn't.

_Geez, I'm sulking over it so much I probably look angstier than that teme right now._

Naruto sighed just as 6 bowls of steaming hot noodles were placed in front of him. He suddenly didn't feel so hungry.

"Never mind, I'll just take the ramen to go," he said dejectedly.

Ayame gave him a look of curiosity mixed with concern, her best customer was acting unsually strange and broody today, but she nodded nonetheless and packed up his ramen for him in plastic containers.

"Thanks Ayame." He left money on the counter, took the ramen takeout and began a slow, dismal walk to his empty home.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

o.o


	4. Chapter 4

Gaara walked aimlessly around the streets of Suna, just people watching and observing the bustling market place around him. His older siblings were out of breath behind him, struggling to keep up with his pace.

"Dammit Kankuro, quit grabbing onto my arms and dragging me down with you. We all know you're too fat to keep up with me." Temari sneered at her brother, who was panting and trying to grasp her elbow. Temari pulled her arm away quickly and he missed and stumbled.

Kankuro scowled in annoyance. "We're not supposed to be out here anyway. If the Kazekage finds out we left the tower we're going to get in trouble again!"

"So what do you want me to do? Just go back to the tower and let Gaara wander around and have all the fun?" she shot back.

Instead of dignifying her with a response, Kankuro snapped his mouth shut, his lips pressed together firmly in a thin line. Temari _'humph'd' _when she couldn't bully a reaction out of her brother and stormed ahead, trailing after Gaara. Kankuro sped up and walked alongside her in annoyance. Just as suddenly as they sped up, they came to a halt.

Gaara stopped walking and was currently staring at a little girl in his path. She wore a torn up brown shirt and pants that didn't quite reach her ankles. Her hair was messy and tied up into pigtails on either side of her head and her face was streaked with dirt. She held a worn out brown teddy up to Gaara and smiled. He stared back at her with an impassive face. A small crowd was already forming around them in the busy marketplace since they were standing there creating a mini traffic jam. Temari exchanged a worried look with Kankuro, both unsure of what to do, and both with the same thought running through their minds.

_Was Gaara going to attack the little girl with his sand? _

Gaara continued to stare at the girl, not a hint of emotion showing through his perfect poker face. Her smile faltered, but she continued to hold the toy bear up to him with big innocent eyes.

"Play?"

She received no response, and her big eyes began to fill with water. The little girl sniffed a couple times and sure enough a moment later came the waterworks. Temari started to walk forward to comfort the child, but before she could take a step a woman pushed her way roughly through the crowd, ran up to the crying little girl, and swept the girl into her arms hurriedly. "Oh Misaka, I'm so glad you're safe!" She kissed the girls tear stained cheeks multiple times and then turned her gaze onto Gaara's impassive one. Her eyes widened in recognition.

"You…Get away from my daughter! Get back! Get back, y-you, MONSTER!"

A hush went through the crowd as every eye in the marketplace turned onto Gaara and the woman who were right in the middle of the scene. Her shrill hysterical voice rang in Gaara's ears and he narrowed his eyes in annoyance. The sudden, familiar tugging on his mind came back in full force and with a vengeance.

…_**I smell fear…their blood…**_

_**..must…KILL!**_

Gaara fought to keep his control over his body. To all the observers all they saw was a sudden look of fury and contempt pass over his face. Gaara's brows were drawn together in concentration while his mouth was twisted into one of Shukaku's sadistic smirks, making him look more bloodthirsty and insane than before. His hands shot up to his head and they grabbed tightly at his red hair.

_GET…OUT…OF MY MIND!_

The crowd watched, alarmed, as Gaara fell to his knees pulling at his hair in anguish. His mouth was still twisted in that chilling bloodthirsty smirk and his eyes were wide in sadistic glee. Out of his mouth came a bloodcurdling howl that raised the hairs on everyone's bodies. The Sabaku siblings knew that howl didn't belong to their little brother, yet they shuddered and took a step back instinctively. Gaara's brows were still drawn tightly together and his breathing came out in short, ragged pants.

He truly looked like a demon.

The crowd collectively held their breaths; they were rooted to the spot, too frightened to move. Then, as suddenly as it began, Gaara slumped over onto the ground in the marketplace, unconscious.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The Kazekage stormed in front of his desk regally. He was _furious._ Two poor souls stood in front of him nervously and waited for the impending doom of his glorious wrath to hail down on them. They were surely going to die today. The Kazekage stopped his pacing and spun around to face the two people. He glared at them, sighed, paced some more, pinched the bridge of his nose, glared some more, stormed around furiously again, wore a hole onto the carpet in his office, rubbed his temples, and sighed heavily.

When he finally turned around to face them again, his gaze wasn't full of anger, his old regal face just looked worn and tired.

Temari and Kankuro were fidgeting the whole time and had guilt written all over their faces, but they couldn't help but notice all the wrinkles, the fine lines, the crow's feet, and the dullness of the Kazekage's, their father's, eyes.

"Kazeka-" Temari was cut off by his deep grunt.

She tried again. "Father…" and when he didn't say anything she took it as a sign to continue. "Father, we are terribly sorry. We never meant to let Gaara wander out by-"

"It doesn't matter." He cut her off. "It's too late to apologize, the damage has already been done. Do you realize how scared and angry the villagers are at Gaara? They are easily frightened and they won't forget about this episode any time soon. I have no choice but to take Gaara away for a while."

"What? For how long?" This time it was Kankuro who spoke up.

"Long enough for the impact of the first round of gossip to blow over. God knows how long that will take, knowing this village. They believe your brother is a monster." At this he paused, and noted that neither one of them protested against his statement. "They will take any chance they have to try and kill him. I cannot let that happen. Gaara is to come with me on my political visit to Konoha, where he will stay indefinitely even after I leave. You two will go along with him under the supervision of Baki, who will be under the title of Ambassador of Suna."

Temari and Kankuro both opened their mouths but the Kazekage cut them off. "That is not all." He looked both of them in the eyes sternly. "I am counting on this little event to never repeat itself. You two will keep a close eye on Gaara no matter the circumstances. I cannot afford for this to happen again. This is your mission and your punishment, and you shall not fail either way. I expect you to be on your best behavior, do not shame the title of a Suna nin. Understood?"

The Kazekage's tone was demanding, harsh, and back to business. There was no way they could say no.

"Hai, Kazekage-sama." Temari and Kankuro bowed respectfully.

"Be packed and ready to leave by tomorrow morning."

"Hai."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for the reviews, it fuels my writing :D


	5. Chapter 5

The little Suna entourage traveled about 3 days through the desert uneventfully. They arrived at Konoha around midday, hot and sweaty and hoping it would be a breezy day in Konoha. No such luck. The air was sweltering hot; was there a heat wave or drought going on here or something?

"Temari, fan me one more time."

"Shut up Kankuro."

"Please Temari? I don't care if you use a wind jutsu on me right now, I'm freaking melting here!" Kankuro whined.

Burning under the gaze of the sun and highly agitated from all the traveling and sand stuck in her shoes and bra, Temari gritted her teeth, whirled around the moment no one else was watching, and whacked Kankuro hard on the head with her fan.

"Don't make me use my wind jutsu's on you." she threatened.

Kankuro scowled but smartly kept his mouth shut, knowing full well what his sister was capable of when annoyed. The entourage continued through the streets of Konoha where some villagers greeted them kindly while others glared at them. Some just outright stared at the group.

Temari huffed in annoyance at all the stares and allowed herself to eye roll at them in public.

'_Leaf nin'_

When they arrived at the Hokage tower they were ushered by the Hokage's assistant to the VIP rooms where they would be staying indefinitely. The Kazekage and Baki dropped off their belongings and immediately went to the meeting with the Hokage, leaving the Sabaku silbings to their devices. They decided to check out their new VIP home. The sand siblings each had a bedroom to themselves and the bedrooms were all attached to one large lounge room, where they could all meet up in private without any outsiders bothering them.

"Sweet kami, check out the size of these beds! You could fit 3 people in each one at once! And then some!" Kankuro chuckled lecherously at the thoughts brought on by his own comment.

Temari rolled her eyes and went to check out the VIP lounge. She opened the door and felt the sudden blast of cool air surrounding her.

Ahh, sweet relief.

She entered the lounge room and walked around, admiring the room. There was a pool table in the center, a large, white grand piano on one corner, an air conditioner humming away quietly on the other end, and at the center of the room there was a decent sized dining table complete with a shiny polish. Around the table and taking up most of the space in the room there was one large, comfy looking couch in a circular shape that was probably bigger than all their 3 beds put together. There was a soundproof interior installed in the walls and along the circular couch were plush pillows neatly placed a foot apart from each other. Sitting in the middle of the room on the large expensive couch was Gaara.

Absentmindedly, Temari wondered if their new VIP housing had a large swimming pool as well. Considering all the other things they had it wouldn't be much of a stretch. She took a seat near Gaara, who didn't seem to notice her, and just relaxed in the cool air conditioned room. It was actually pretty calm and relaxing, even with Gaara in here, she thought to herself as she stretched lazily.

The peaceful, serene atmosphere didn't last long when the knob turned and Kankuro walked in.

"Hot damn! This place is better than the one we got back in Suna! I could get used to living in a VIP lounge. Hey Temari, do you think I could pick up more chicks now with this new bachelor pad?"

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto woke up around midday, his eyes blurred and groggy from sleep. Today was his team's day off, and he intended to sleep most of the day away. He stretched lazily, intent on going back to dreamland when suddenly he bolted straight up. His birthday was in 2 days, and Iruka-sensei still wasn't back from his mission. He had promised himself that he wouldn't spend this birthday alone; he was going to get Iruka back from that mission, even if that meant pestering the Hokage day in and day out. Naruto grinned at the thought of the current Hokage. Tsunade baa-chan was probably piss drunk and passed out at her desk with some important scrolls stuck to her cheek and sake bottles littering the floor right about now.

She and Iruka were the only ones in the village who gave a rats ass about him, but the idea of inviting the Hokage to his one-man birthday party was just laughable. So the only person he really could depend on was Iruka-sensei, who wasn't here right now. Naruto got dressed quickly, brushed his teeth, and skipped breakfast and lunch altogether. That would have to wait. He hurried along less populated streets and took shortcuts in alleys to get to the Hokage tower. He didn't want anyone to recognize him and make his trip to the tower longer than it had to be.

Naruto raised a fist and was about to knock on the Hokage's door when Shizune, the Hokage's assistant, stopped him. "The Hokage is in a very important meeting with the Kazekage right now. Please come back later."

Naruto nodded once, turned and left, surprised that Tsunade baa-chan was actually working at the moment. As he turned a corridor absentmindedly he felt a strong connection with a presence in one of the rooms. He followed the presence and stopped in front of the door of the largest VIP suite for foreign ambassadors. He stood there and blinked.

_Should I knock, or just leave? And what's with this weird connection, it's like I can tell where that person is moving and what they're feeling at the moment…_

As Naruto stood in front of the door stupidly it suddenly swung open, revealing 2 Suna nin bickering with each other. One of them was a girl with 4 pigtails and an intimidating glare. The other was a scowling guy with a black hood on and some kind of weird face marking or possibly makeup.

_Whoa, did I just see a guy wearing purple makeup?_

They paid Naruto no attention and made their way out of the Hokage tower, arguing the whole way. Naruto watched their retreating backs until they were out of sight, then turned back to the VIP suite. Naruto blinked twice.

Standing at the previously empty doorframe was a boy with messy flaming red hair and a kanji of 'love' on his forehead. His eyes were an icy green and were rimmed with dark black all around.

_Haha is this boy wearing eyeliner? Man, what is with these foreign males and their makeup?_

"It's not makeup."

Naruto blinked again. "Huh??"

"It's not makeup." The other boy repeated simply, a look of nonchalance on his face.

_Did he just…read my thoughts?_

"Maybe."

Naruto continued to stare dumbly at the boy. This was the person he had felt that strong connection with the moment he turned down the hallway. There was no mistaking it. Even now, standing near him he could still feel that pull…

_Who is this person?_ He wondered curiously.

"You know, you could just ask me." The boy stated flatly.

Naruto gave the strange boy a sheepish grin, one arm came up to scratch the side of his head in apology.

"Sorry, my name is Uzumaki Naruto. Who are you?" He extended his other hand out for the strange boy to shake. Naruto watched as the boy observed him keenly while he stood there neither introducing himself nor shaking his outstretched hand. Naruto felt his cheeks warm up under the intense scrutiny of the other boy's gaze. He finally spoke.

"Sabaku no Gaara." His voice was emotionless and his poker face was devoid of any signs giving away that he was feeling anything.

_He must be really good at card games like poker…_ Naruto thought absentmindedly.

Gaara allowed a smirk to grace his lips at the blonde's comment.

"Ahh, sorry, I forgot you're some kind of mind reader or something." Naruto gave Gaara another sheepish grin. "Uh, so are you good at poker?"

Instead of answering the boy turned and walked back into the VIP lounge. Confused, Naruto stood there wondering if he did something to make the boy go away.

**I guess you could say I'm good.**

At the sound of another voice in his head Naruto jumped up nervously from his spot in the hallway.

_What the hell?_

**Come in.**

_Huh? Come in where?_

Naruto looked at the VIP suite and saw Gaara standing across the room looking expectantly at Naruto with his arms crossed over his chest.

**Come in.**

Naruto hesitantly took a step into the suite and Gaara smirked before turning back around and walking further into the suite. Naruto trailed him slowly, still confused about the unexpected turn of events. He was supposed to be looking for Iruka, not following some strange boy into a VIP suite! When he walked into another room he couldn't help but look around in awe at what could only be the best VIP lounge room Konoha had to offer.

"Naruto."

Said boy turned around and realized that Gaara already set up a table with cards and was waiting for him to come over.

Naruto took a seat across from the redhead.

"What are you doing?"

"You wanted to know if I was good at poker." he replied simply.

_Oooh.._

"Alright then. You're on."

Naruto and Gaara proceeded their friendly game of poker with no stakes. Naruto glanced at his opponents impassive face, struggling to read Gaara's emotions through his jade colored eyes, but nothing gave him away.

_Damn, I have no way to tell how he's doing. I just hope my pair of kings is good enough to beat him._

Naruto realized his mistake in talking to himself in his mind about his hand of cards when he looked up and found Gaara smirking at him.

"I win." he declared with a hint of amusement.

"Beginner's luck." Naruto shot back, annoyed at himself for revealing his own cards.

They began another round and didn't even notice when Temari and Kankuro walked back in with dango and takeout.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Naruto had stayed for a couple more rounds of poker with Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, which he later learned were siblings from Suna and all children of the Kazekage. He politely declined the offer to stay over and eat with them in favor of looking for Iruka-sensei. Now as he sat in front of the Hokage office waiting for a chance to pester Tsunade baa-chan he couldn't help but regret leaving the Sabaku siblings so early.

_Damn I'm bored._ Naruto thought to himself.

**Poker?** A nonchalant voice asked in his mind.

_Oh hey Gaara, I almost forgot we could talk like this_. Naruto sent him a mental grin. _I think the Hokage's are going to be done any moment now, so no thanks. Maybe tomorrow?_

**If you wish.**

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tsunade sat behind her large oak desk and scowled as she listened to her fellow Kage speak. She tapped her foot impatiently as the Kazekage finally finished.

"So what you're saying is, based on your research, the Kyuubi container of Konoha and the Shukaku container of Suna have to be sealed together to successfully extract and destroy their bijuu once and for all, ensuring the safety of our villages and removing the threat of an Akatsuki attack?"

"Hai, Tsunade-sama."

"What happens to the containers once they are sealed together?"

"We're not sure yet Hokage-sama. The jutsu is still being developed at the moment so we haven't tested it on anything, but it will most likely result in the death of the jinchurikis." Baki replied.

"I see." Tsunade's eyes narrowed. "Is there any other way?"

"None that our most advanced scientists know of Tsunade-sama."

The female Sannin nodded curtly at the bearers of the less than welcome news and stood up to show the Kazekage and his ambassador out of her office.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

o-o


	6. Chapter 6

"As you children probably know by now, Konoha is playing host to the Kazekage of Suna and his little entourage. He has 3 children, all of whom are genin such as yourselves. They are staying in Konoha's VIP suite with the Suna ambassador for an indefinite amount of time. Due to the cirumstances the Sand Siblings will be split up and added to three separate genin teams. Unfortunately, Team 7 has been chosen by the Hokage to have an additional member. Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, meet Sabaku no Gaara."

Gaara stepped out from behind a nearby tree and merely stared at his new teammates.

Naruto's face lit up at the sight of his new poker buddy.

"Oi, hey Gaara! I can't believe our luck! Now I get to see you everyday and we can spar together too! It'll make training much more fun with you around. That Sasuke-teme is such a bore."

Sasuke gave at snort at the blonde's blunt comment, but otherwise did nothing to acknowledge the fact that Naruto had even opened his mouth. He merely gave a smug glance in Gaara's general direction and stalked off on his own.

_Why should I waste precious time making a new friend when I could use that time to train and gain more power? _After all, he _was_ the strongest one on Team 7 and of course he had to work hard to keep things that way. That new red head didn't scare him, and if Gaara ever got in his way he'd just have to kick his ass and show him who was the alpha-male around here. Well, not including Kakashi, but Sasuke figured at the rate he was training he might even surpass Kakashi in power and genjutsu soon.

The only member of Team 7 that had yet to say anything was the pink haired girl standing by Kakashi. Gaara quirked a nonexistent eyebrow.

_Pink hair?_

**Yep, and she says it's her natural hair color too!**

Gaara glanced briefly at the giddy blonde and set his gaze back on the girl. He locked eyes with her for a split second and she immediately blushed and looked away quickly.

_Hmm, it seems this girl is extremely shy. She refuses to talk to me._

**Oh, Sakura? Shy? No way! She's one of the loudest girls I know! You better watch out for her fist, she gets violent pretty easily..**

Gaara smirked as Naruto sent a mental shudder through their link.

Sakura's heart beat rapidly as she watched a smirk pass through the red head's handsome features. Her breath caught in her throat as she stared hungrily at him and when Gaara locked his emerald eyes with hers, her brain promptly refused to function and she fainted on the spot. Kakashi glanced at the scene before him, sweat dropped, and walked sideways up a nearby tree to read his 'Icha Icha: Golden Edition' in peace.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Well team, I'd like everyone to welcome Sabaku no Temari to our ranks. She is a genin from Suna and will be staying at Konoha with the rest of the Sand Siblings for god knows how long. Please get along, no fighting or killing while I'm gone."

And with that, Asuma lit a cigarette and walked away leisurely.

Temari smirked as she looked around at her new team mates. She was going to have fun messing with them.

Shikamaru sighed and began walking away too, but stopped in mid-stride because it took too much energy to walk away, so he opted to just lie on the ground next to his team mates. His arms were crossed behind his pineapple hair-do and his form was relaxed and unguarded. To any untrained eye, the lazy genius would have appeared to be in a deep peaceful sleep, but Temari knew better. She stalked over to his still body and without a warning whipped out a kunai and brought it to Shikamaru's neck.

Chouji's bag of shrimp crackers he was snacking on just moments ago slipped out of his hands and fell to the ground in his shock.

"Shikamaru!" Ino gasped as her slow reflexes finally caught on to what was happening.

The ninja under assault slowly cracked one eye open and glanced at Temari, who was grinning down at him devilishly.

"How troublesome." He groaned.

Temari smirked and replied in a haughty voice, "As a ninja you should always keep your senses highly alert. Never let your guard down, no matter what you're doing. That's what my sensei back in Suna taught me. Looks like I'm going to have to save your scrawny ass whenever we battle enemy nin, pineapple-head."

Shikamaru made a half-assed effort to roll his eyes at her and resumed his sleeping.

From a distance, Ino glared icily at the new girl who was in the act of tugging on Shikamaru's hair while he slept. Chouji stood next to Ino, munching away on his shrimp crackers, oblivious to the world around him.

"Ugh, freakin' blonde bitch! What the hell does she think she's doing? Shikamaru was supposed to be _mine._ I bet she doesn't even know his name, and she's playing with his hair. What a slut!," Ino hissed. She whipped around angrily and stormed off to alert Sakura about this new development.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Yosh! What a beautiful morning, the flowers are glistening in their youthful beauty and the air is fresh and sweet! A perfect day to run 100 laps around Konoha or to climb the Hokage Mountain all morning! But before we warm up, I must introduce our team to our newest member!" Gai exclaimed delightedly.

"Newest member? More like newest victim." TenTen muttered under her breath to Neji.

Neji nodded in response, a grim expression set on his face.

"Why the long faces, Neji? TenTen? Where is your youthful exuberance!" Gai asked.

"I'M ALWAYS YOUTHFUL AND EXUBERANT, GAI-SENSEI!" Lee cried out dramatically.

"OH, LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

"LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

The two green beasts of Konoha proceeded to bear hug each other enthusiastically.

"Uh, are they always like this?" Kankuro, who had been watching silently in shock the whole time, asked as he eyed the spandex ninjas warily.

"Unfortunately, yes. I'm TenTen and this guy is Neji. Join the club." TenTen replied sarcastically.

"TenTen, what a sexy name. I'm Sabaku no Kankuro, a Suna nin. I'm staying over at the VIP suite in the Hokage tower. Wanna come over sometime?" Kankuro suggested with a waggle of his eyebrows.

TenTen merely laughed off Kankuro's invitation while Neji stood by her possessively and glared at the new ninja with the makeup.

"…"

"OH, LEE!"

"GAI-SENSEI!"

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

_Any character pairing requests? Let me know, I'll consider all requests :)  
_


End file.
